Imagine a world where nobody has kids unless they feel like it.
With the declining birth rates, everyone is needed and there is plenty of space for everyone.
Automation is honed to perfection, as human workers are too rare and valuable to be put into manual labour.
With less mouths to feed, basic income and a post-scarcity society are not only possible, but any other option would be unthinkable.
The few, rare children that are born are showered with not only the love and affection of parents and grandparents, but flocks of aunts and uncles and the parent’s/parents’ friends who chose not to reproduce, and have plenty of time and energy to invest in the little ones and give the parents a much-needed rest.
People who don’t like kids or do not get along with them have no trouble avoiding them, and children grow up without unpleasant experiences with them.
Cityscapes are broad and the people are scarce, no infrastructure is forced to hold more than it was intended to handle.
No-one is told they are less of a man, less of a woman or less of an adult for choosing to not have a child. Numerous childless adults pour their energy and devotion to developing a society of sparser and sparser, but happier people.
Humanity does not end with war, in a cramped, stressed nightmare suddenly ending with a bang, but by gently lulling into a soft sleep.
